FEM analysis of in-flight ice break-up

Using a fracture mechanics framework, this paper presents a finite element method to simulate the break-up of ice accreted on the wings of aircraft. The fully automated ice break-up module is integrated in FENSAP–ICE [1,2], which is an in-flight ice accretion simulation code that solves flow, droplet impingement and ice accretion, in sequence. The approach is validated by comparing with published results for a single edge cracked plate test case. Numerous complicated ice-shapes are analyzed and comparison is performed with a contemporary fracture mechanics code. Under typical icing and flow conditions, linear elasticity is found to be adequate for ice break-up analysis. An important finding of this study is that the breaking of ice has a strong dependence on its shape, i.e. under similar aerodynamic loading, some ice shapes fail while others do not. ► We present a finite element method to simulate the break-up of ice accreted on the wings of aircraft. ► The objective is for ice breakup models to become an integral part of the in-flight icing framework. ► This study could thus have a potential to be used as an aid to in-flight icing certification.